Yearly Archives: 2005

From vignettes to mecha, many wonderful LEGO ideas have originated in Japan. Several of the most respected builders, such as Sugegasa, MOKO, and Takeshi Itou are Japanese. Although LEGO fans throughout the world can enjoy each other’s creations by looking at pictures, language remains a barrier. My purpose in creating this blog is to break down the language barrier and give English-speaking LEGO fans a view into the world of Japanese LEGO fans.

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Moko recently posted pictures of a new idea for articulated legs on a minifig:

Classic-Castler Anthony Sava has combined this building technique with a Viking head and torso, Ron Weasley’s hair, and grill pieces in just the right colors to create a highly amusing Highland Berserker:

Well, he’s pretty small, so it would probably be fairly easy to take his life (just pull his head off with your fingers), but I imagine taking his freedom would be a bit more challenging…

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EDIT (11/1/05): Moko has titled this creation “Gundam without vigour.” I assume this is a translation of the Japanese “Genki nai Gundam” (「元気ないガンダム」). The word “genki” can mean several things in Japanese, including “energy,” “spirit,” “health,” and “cheerfulness.” I think the last one is the most correct in this context, so “Depressed Gundam” or “Gundam with the Blues” is probably a more accurate translation. Hope that doesn’t sound too pedantic… I fault Moko’s dictionary. ;-)

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We’re buying a house! We close on November 7, and we’re probably moving in the next weekend (in between, we paint, install appliances, and fix various minor issues). It’s a nice big house built in 1952, in the Lake City area of Seattle. The full daylight basement has two (mostly) finished rooms, one of which is huge:

We’re not quite sure what to do with this room, so for now it’s going to be the “LEGO room.” My LEGO will finally be out from underneath my wife’s feet. We’re both very happy.

Unfortunately, this also means my LEGO is all packed away, and I won’t be updating my blog with my own creations for a while. Hopefully, other people will make interesting things I can blog.

I tried to put my technical writing skills to use in describing how to prevent fading and dust, and how to clean and store LEGO. BrickWiki is a very cool project. It has the potential to be the sum total of knowledge about LEGO. Right now, there are still a lot of holes, and the existing information needs some serious editing. Plenty of other late nights for that, though…

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I’m not quite sure when he posted these, but Classic-Castle, FBTB, and EuroBricks (etc.) user Bloody Jay has created a fantastic set of four Monty Python vignettes that fit together:

Clockwise from the left, I presume these are “The Ministry of Silly Walks,” “Smoke Shop,” and the vicious gang of keep-left signs at the end of the “Hell’s Grannies” sketch. I really like the construction technique he used on the keep-left signs and the fire hydrant. I also like how it’s mostly studless. My one critique is that it would have been nice to see another vignette in the fourth “quadrant.” There’s certainly enough source material!

(I really hope I get the Monty Python DVD box set for my birthday next week…)

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Local girl Brandi Carlile is hands-down my new favorite singer. Don’t let her great looks or the widespread hype dissuade you from giving her a listen. Since this is a LEGO blog, I added her to my Music folder:

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My 7018 Viking Ship vs. the Midgard Serpent arrived from Amazon.com a couple weeks ago, and I also won an eBay lot of fourteen Imperial Guards and Imperial Soldiers minifigs. Last weekend, I set about making several new historical and literary characters. First up, George Washington:

And from left to right, Horatio Nelson, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington:

I also made Erik the Red (not “historically accurate” with the horns, I know) and Beowulf: